Carrie Ann, Carrie Ann, Carrie Ann! (sung to the tune of Carry On.)

I love when my sisters come to play.
Last week sister Carrie came to stay.  We played and ate yummy food and watched lots stuff on TV while she sat in her chair and embroidered in the evenings.  I also may or may not have totally taken advantage of another adult being around to run errands, sans a few kids.
Carrie is awesome.  And I love her.
Carrie, please come back because I need you to help me recover my couch.  And also, you know those dresses that you helped me cut out? I have no idea how to sew them together.  Darts? Are you kidding? That is serious stuff....especially if it is something that I will be expected to wear in public, I can't just fudge it like usual.

 We did the normal DC stuff.  It's a good thing she didn't fly down here because I don't think they would have let her take it back on the plane.  [enter cymbal crash.]  (Did I mention that Carrie and Todd are in CT for the summer?  Same coast Dude.  That doesn't happen often for us.)

 We went to the Museum of Modern Art.  I hadn't been before.  Though I much prefer the other kind, I can totally appreciate this, especially with Carrie.  Who better to explore this place than with a teacher of design?

 This one was very large, but I have to say that the view of the National Mall out the room-length windows in this room were equally, if not more, impressive.

Hm, yes, I see.

I rather liked this one too.  Who knew modern art could be so interactive?

 Had to.  A Georgetown cupcake is a Georgetown cupcake after all.  And just in case you were wondering, I had an orange blossom AND a sea salt caramel.  One for now and one for later.

 Todd came down towards the end of her stay.  He and Carrie were nice enough to take Abby on a little outing with them for a bike tour of downtown.  It was a hit.  Apparently, that is the way to see downtown DC.  And Abby loved being an only child for a day.  I believe she even called them Mom and Dad.  Whatever floats your boat little Abner.  I am not crying, not really.

 I love Carrie and Todd.  Love them.

Please come back, soon.

Toy Review 2011

Here is my toy review:
Don't buy this toy.
Not unless you want to have nightmares about possessed bunnies that laugh at you while rolling around on the floor maniacally.
Unfortunately, what a child does with their own hard earned money is sometimes out of my opinionated jurisdiction.
The motion sensor on it is a total bonus.  It scares me just a tad more than the hobby horse in the basement that whinnies at me every time I shut off the light and head upstairs.

Daddy-O.

I was actually a little mad this Father's Day.  I was disappointed that my husband was not here to be celebrated.  We were all jazzed up with no one to bestow our Fatherness love upon.  So instead I will just reflect upon how much I love and appreciate the Fathers in my life.

 

I may just get all weepy for a minute, and it won't be because I happen to be lonely right now.

This is a good man.

 He is adored by his daughters.

They love him.

 Maybe I am a selfish person and that is why I have been "blessed" with the life we have lived for the last 11 years...I need to have him taken away periodically so that I can more fully appreciate how much I LOVE being around him and how much I need him.  It's hard because time and time again I have had to make do without him so going back to "needing" him when he gets home can be a tough transition.

But I do.

I need him.

 I won't ever get sick of these pictures.  Not ever.  Because it reminds me of the void that he fills when he is home with us...and the tangible void that he leaves behind when he is gone.

He is good.  He is something special.

How could I ever take that for granted?

I hope I don't.

 The best.  The best for me.  The best for these girls.

And he comes from this man.  Who has also blessed our lives with his example, his wisdom and his sense of humor.  He is a driving force in his family and it trickles down to ours.  What an amazing man.  I am lucky that my husband is just like his father in so many ways: tenderhearted, charismatic and fun.

And this guy.  Seriously, the lonliness is not a good thing, weepy again.  I miss my parents.  I know that they are not that far away...our oceans touch one another, right?  But I miss hanging out with them.  It was a blessing to live with my Mo and Dad while I was alone and pregnant with Hazel.  I loved being their child in their house again.  I married someone good because I grew up with a Father in the home that was good.  So perfectly suited to be my Dad.  I love you PKO!  (Feel lucky that I didn't share any pictures that show your silly side...they are out there, I am just saving them for something opportune....blackmailed inheritance perhaps?  Favorite child claim made public?)

Seriously, tears folks.  Good men are a true blessing.  I am overwhelmed with just how blessed my life has been.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to go stuff my loneliness with a little Betty Crocker.

To heck with circadian rhythms.

Now, moving on to another post in which I don't sound like a family-hater...
In addition to a compulsion for taking pictures of our own food, we also like to photograph the bizarre sleeping habits of our children.  Hazel and Mia in particular...something about their room compels them to sleep at funny angles and fall out of bed without waking up as many times as possible in one night.
Their room is directly above the family room...oh, the noises we hear after they have gone to bed.  Sometimes we take bets on what body part is hitting what wall.

Most photos are courtesy of Spencer's iphone that has a flash.
Enjoy.

(Do I need to clarify that they NEVER wake up?  They get one shot to be put back the right way, then we go to bed and it's every child for themself.)

Is it any wonder that I don't let them crawl into bed with me?

I just got a call from a telemarketer.  It is 8:55 but it feels like midnight...it also feels like I have been shoveling coal for three years.  I stopped the telemarketer and told her, "you know what? It's been a long day and I am so tired right now,  I can't even think hard enough to answer your question."  She told me to have a good evening and said good bye, pleasantly.  Really?  If I had known it was that easy I would have been doing that for years.  The kids are in bed....they may not be sleeping but they are in bed.  It has been one of those weeks, or months, really.  I am worn out.  On this motherhood rope I have slid to the end and I'm hangin on.  I have had so much fun with my sister Carrie here this week.  Her husband was out of town and so is mine so we have sat around and cut out patterns, eaten nachos and watched maybe just a little bit of Real Housewives of New Jersey (that is, until one of them was seriously and soulfully singing "Amazing Grace" and sang "saved a wench like me"...that's when we changed it.  I really just couldn't go on.)   I'm glad my visitor is here to break up the stiffness of my attitude.
There are just times like these.  I hope I can climb a few feet on this rope before school gets out next week or I may need a padded room....for me and the kids (separate ones might be nice.) The other day Carrie was telling me about an absolutely crazy woman whose husband took the kids, got in the car and called her from the road to tell her that he was leaving her, taking the kids and not to follow them.  I know it was supposed to be an awful, horribly tragic and sad story but at the moment is sounded kinda, nice.
I guess now is where I need to reassure you all that I love my children and I am undyingly grateful to be a mother.  But I am also grateful for a very active dose of sarcasm and humor that allows me to survive and even enjoy these lows on the rope.  I do love them.  I still think they are cute.  Since I like to blame other people for my feelings I will accuse my sister this week who is so much fun that I don't like to go to bed.  I need my husband to write up a mathmatical equation that illustrates how the amount of sleep I get is directly proportional to how much I like my kids the next day and how funny I think they are.
I love them.  Did I already clarify that?  I do.  They are sweet and funny.  They are just kids and I need to remember that and embrace it because I love who they are and the stage that they are at.
I have had some nice insights into parenting as of late that I would love to share when I am not quite so tired.  But right now I have to scamper along.  I need to sew 60 bean bags for the kindergarten party and then maybe eat some dark chocolate covered pomegranate while I wait for Carrie to get back from the train station with her husband, and my good friends who are staying the night.
Or maybe I'll just lay my head down on the desk right here for a moment or two...

Something I did, but not really.

 A couple of months ago I was grateful (grateful being a relative term where exercise and exertion is concerned) for the invitation to run a 10K.  I was grateful because the triathlon hoopla was over and I had zero motivation to ever go back to the gym again (except maybe for the hydro-massage table.)  I have found that having a friend to work out with makes a huge difference for me.  I was glad for that nagging feeling of "oh, she'll be at the gym and perhaps wondering where I am and why I am not working very hard".  I think I may have even put in a bit more effort for this one than the tri.  I was feeling better and had more energy so I went for it.  It also didn't hurt that there were extra friends doing it too, girls that I admire and really enjoy hanging out with. (Don't you love how the woman taking a picture with my phone conveniently cropped me out?)

Unfortunately the person taking the "after" picture got all of my body in, all of my slouchy, sweaty body.  I was excited for the day of the race.  We got up, met up and headed downtown to Georgetown where the race was being held.  Traffic on 66 at 6:30 in the morning (seriously? yes, seriously) got us to the parking garage, porta potties and starting line just in time.  We literally got in line with the runners as the bell for the people at the front to go sounded.  It was a neat run, beautifully set along the Potomac with views of the Washington monument on the horizon. We have had lovely weather until last week when nasty, humid, HOT temperatures dominated.  Besides the fact that it was a tad humid and warm, I was discouraged to see the front runners passing me coming back waaay earlier than I had anticipated.  And when they turned us around I knew that we had either made some kind of mistake or I was running way faster than I knew possible (that, of course, being the less likely of my suspicions.)  Since we had arrived late, we didn't hear the announcement that the 10K had been changed to a 5K because of the heat advisory.  I suppose it was a good thing, I was having a horrible run anyway.  Clark felt worse for me about the race than I did.  I was really glad that the week before, a couple of us had gone down to Georgetown to run the course (or close to it.)  So I had done it the week before.  I had a good run and felt satisfied that I had accomplished my goal.  Plus I got a medal and free banana ("free" being a loose term of course since I paid to run.)

In other news, school is still chugging along.  We have a little less than a week left.  I am so proud of Haley who applied to be a safety monitor for next year.  Haley is a go-getter.  She has tried out for and entered a lot of different competitions in past years.  It is hard to watch a child make an effort and put herself out there without always being rewarded for it (that's good for her though, right?)  So I was thrilled, almost as thrilled as she was, when she came home with her sash.  She is a monitor in training for the last few weeks and next year she will be in full force.

Hopefully setting a good example for all those impressionable youngins' out there.  (enter only slightly sarcastic eye roll and maybe a chuckle.)

Abby completed her big end of the year project and participated in the most awesome living wax museum ever, even though she was not feeling well that day.  All of the second graders had to research a person, write a report, memorize it and create a poster.  They were all in costume with a sticker on their hand so you could walk around, push the sticker and hear their schpeal.  It was so adorable and fun.  She did great.  Did you know Betsy Ross (aka Elizabeth Griscom) was married three times?  I did, or at least I do now.  So does Mia and Hazel who walked around for 2 days saying, "Hello, my name is Betsy Ross.  My real name is Elizabeth Griscom.  I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 1, 1752."  Her speech was two whole minutes long.  I was so impressed with these kids.

 Then the girls were peas in a pod.

 And a Chinese dragon.

I am ready to bring on summer....well, maybe not thoroughly ready.  Emotionally I am ready, physically, not so much.  I will get there.  Let's get through the end of year parties and exorbitant amounts of paper coming home right now.

My delightful sister Carrie is visiting right now so I am just enjoying her company (and her cooking and cleaning and child care.)  I will write all about her visit after the hoopla of the week has subsided.  Until then.
And yes, I managed to use the word "hoopla" twice in one post.  Isn't that something.  (Do rhetorical questions get a question mark or a period? I really do not know.)